Labour's big money days over - Levy

Gordon Brown will have "great difficulty" wooing back the wealthy individuals who gave big donations to Labour under Tony Blair, the party's former chief fundraiser Lord Levy has said.

The peer - nicknamed Lord Cashpoint because of his ability to secure six and seven-figure gifts for the party - suggested the money from wealthy individuals had dried up because they thought Labour was no longer in tune with their thinking and expected it to lose the next election.

He said Labour should emulate the success of US politicians such as Barack Obama in raising small donations from thousands of supporters via the internet.

Lord Levy was speaking as details emerged of a Labour fundraising auction that gives supporters an opportunity to bid to play tennis with Tony Blair, have lunch with Sir Alex Ferguson or feature as a character in a novel by Alastair Campbell.

The peer told BBC Radio 4's PM the auction was a sign of desperation. The party is believed to have debts totalling more than £20 million and only 17 people gave it more than £1,000 in the first quarter of this year.

"It is certainly not anything that I did when I was doing fundraising," he said. "I really had a whole different approach and I didn't get into anything like this, but I guess desperate times (require) desperate measures.

"Fundraising is cyclical. People tend to support parties that they think are going to win. If they feel a party is not going to win and they are not in tune with where the party is at, they tend not to want to support it. I certainly think that is what is happening with Labour."

Asked how Mr Brown could win back the sort of individuals who once gave Labour the massive cheques which kept it financially buoyant through the Blair years, Lord Levy replied: "With great difficulty."

He repeated his call for a cap on individual donations, and said that Jack Straw's white paper on political funding last week was a missed opportunity to carry out an overhaul of the system.

"The days of big million-pound donations, I think, should be behind us now," he said.